Quaternary Geology of the Indiana Portion of the Southern Half of the Kankakee 30- x 60-minute Quadrangle Map and Geologic Map Schema (GeMS) Level 3 database

Abstract

The map of the Quaternary Geology of the Indiana Portion of the Southern Half of the Kankakee 30- x 60-minute Quadrangle displays unconsolidated Pleistocene glacial sediments associated with the Lake Michigan Lobe and Huron-Erie Lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet and post-glacial sediments deposited by eolian, fluvial, and lacustrine processes in northwestern Indiana. Glacial and proglacial deposits include diamicton, glaciofluvial, and glaciolacustrine sediments deposited during the Wisconsin Episode glaciation. Non-glacial deposits include eolian, alluvial, paludal, and lacustrine sediments deposited during the late Wisconsin Episode and Holocene. Silurian and Devonian bedrock directly underlie the late Wisconsin Episode glacial sediments and non-glacial sediments deposited during the Holocene. 

Unconsolidated deposits were characterized through field observations; new and archived borehole data; lithologic information from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources water well database; and soils data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database. A light detection and ranging (LiDAR)-based digital elevation model was used in combination with geologic data to identify landforms and infer contacts between unconsolidated units.

Summary descriptions of mapped units are listed on the map sheet with detailed descriptions in the accompanying pamphlet. In addition to the map and pamphlet, a composite spatial data set that conforms to the standardized database schema known as GeMS (Geologic Map Schema) is also available for download. Metadata records associated with each element within the spatial data set contain detailed descriptions of their purpose, constituent entities, and attributes. 

This geologic map was funded in part through the U.S. Geological Survey Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Coalition program under Cooperative Agreement No. G22AC00550.